When former Oliver Wyman partner John Haigh recently returned to the firm to speak about his career experiences, he wrote the terms "strategy," "organizational structure," "business processes" and "organizational culture" on a white board. "I wrote 'strategy' in big, bold letters because I viewed that as the critical component when I was consulting," says Haigh, executive dean of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Although this view has changed in an important way, Haigh has derived great value from his consulting capabilities since leaving the profession to join AT&T in 1991.
"It's not easy to leave," says Haigh, who joined an environmental consulting firm (which was later acquired by what was then Mercer Management Consulting) after leaving Harvard's JFK School of Government in 1983 with a master's degree in public policy and one year of research work in the school's energy and environmental policy center. Haigh began his consulting career as an associate and rose to partner level, with a vice president title, by the time he left to join the firm's biggest client.
"Toward the end of my consulting [career], I felt that I had not truly run a business of any scale or scope," he recalls, "I wanted to get more of that management experience."
As a consultant, Haigh oversaw the firm's relationship with the telecommunications giant. He joined the client side, as many consultants do, by starting out in strategy and business development before running a business.
"When you're running an operation and have day-to-day management responsibilities, you realize how hard it is to make an organization do what you'd like it to do," says Haigh, who served as president of AT&T international ventures organization and vice president for the company's global operations. "You quickly see how the strategy, structure, processes and culture need to be aligned in a way that I think consultants sometimes don't fully digest."
Haigh's nine-year tenure with AT&T concluded with the merger of AT&T Wireless and Cingular in 2005, at which point he was hired by Harvard University to essentially serve as the COO of the JFK School. Haigh and the dean developed the school's strategy and mission "to make the world a better place."
This goal resonates with Haigh, who attended the school nearly 30 years ago—in large part because of its mission. Haigh notes that the institution's "rigorous, analytical and quantitative training," also appealed to him then.
"Consulting teaches you to think about problems in systematic, analytical, quantitative and rigorous way," Haigh notes. "That stands anyone in good stead for any business problem you're trying to solve … I still use a lot of it today."
This holds true even when Haigh advises current consultants. "The profession ex-poses consultants to so many different challenges, industries and management styles," he notes. "Keep your eyes open and learn from these experiences and people. Think very carefully about what you really enjoy—what excites you most about these projects? Use that answer to keep an open mind as you consider opportunities in the rest of the world that inevitably arise."
Haigh also suggests that consultants keep an open mind about their current work. His recent presentation to current Oliver Wyman consultants concluded with a return to the white board. There, he re-wrote the word "strategy" in much smaller lettering, and then enlarged "organizational structure," "business processes" and "organizational culture" with bold lettering.
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